The 20th Century Technology Museum is located in Wharton

Wharton, Texas

Wharton is a city in Wharton County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,237 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Wharton County and is located on the Colorado River of Texas just south of U.S...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and displays examples of technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

 from the 20th century. The museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 is a non-profit organization and opened its gallery in July 2005 on the first floor of the former Wharton County Jail, which was constructed in 1888.

The museum's collection consists mostly of smaller items, such as radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

s, but also has a few experimental aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

, including an ornithopter

Ornithopter

An ornithopter is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Designers seek to imitate the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats, and insects. Though machines may differ in form, they are usually built on the same scale as these flying creatures. Manned ornithopters have also been built, and some...

 and a Rutan VariEze, which is displayed in front of the museum. Many items on display in the museum are in working condition and may either be demonstrated to visitors or available for hands-on operation (including most of the arcade games on display).

Major displays in the museum include:

• Radio
  Radio
  Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
  
  s
• Phonograph
  Phonograph
  The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
  
  s and a jukebox
  Jukebox
  A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
  
  
• Television
  Television
  Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
  
  s
• Arcade games
• Home appliance
  Home appliance
  Home appliances are electrical/mechanical machines which accomplish some household functions, such as cooking or cleaning. Home appliances can be classified into:*Major appliances, or White goods*Small appliances, or Brown goods...
  
  s, such as early refrigerator
  Refrigerator
  A refrigerator is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room...
  
  s
• Farm equipment
  Farm equipment
  Agricultural machinery is any kind of machinery used on a farm to help with farming. The best-known example of this kind is the tractor.-Soil cultivation:*Cultivator*Cultipacker*Chisel plow*Mulch tiller*Harrow**Spike harrow**Drag harrow...
  
  
• Telephone
  Telephone
  The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
  
  s
• Typewriter
  Typewriter
  A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
  
  s
• Computer
  Computer
  A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
  
  s
• Electronics
  Electronics
  Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
  
  
• Camera
  Camera
  A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
  
  s
• Aircraft
  Aircraft
  An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
  
  

See also

• Museum of Radio and Technology
  Museum of Radio and Technology
  The Museum of Radio and Technology, located on the western fringes of Ritter Park in Huntington, West Virginia, offers numerous displays and exhibits. It is the only such museum of its type within the state...
  
  
• Museum of Broadcast Communications
  Museum of Broadcast Communications
  The Museum of Broadcast Communications is an American museum that currently exists exclusively on the Internet and not in any physical capacity. Its stated mission is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain...
  
  
• American Museum of Radio and Electricity
  American Museum of Radio and Electricity
  The American Museum of Radio and Electricity is an interactive museum located in Bellingham, Washington, which offers educational experiences for audiences of all ages through galleries and public programs that illustrate the development and use of electricity, radio and the related inventions that...
  
  

External links

• 20th Century Technology Museum website